This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of mushroom of Bunashimeji mushroom, Hypsizygus marmoreus (Peck) Bigelow. This new variety named ‘Marmo22go’ cultivated by repeated breeding of Bunashimeji mushrooms having dominant traits, which has a thick white stem, a large mushroom size, a resistance to high temperatures and ensures presentable stability, reproducibility and uniformity.
Bunashimeji (Hypsizygus marmoreus) now boasts of being the second most consumed edible mushroom after enokitake mushroom in Japan. After bunashimeji was cultivated and became available in the market in large quantities, ‘Hokuto 8gokin’ was developed which reduced the characteristic bitterness of the original bunashimeji. Investigation on tasty bunashimeji was continued even after the development of Hokuto 8gokin, and a variety with improved taste, quality and keeping quality named ‘Hokuto 18gokin’ was developed, which contributed to an increase in consumption.
In order to further improve cultivation stability and the quality of mushrooms, selective breeding was repeatedly carried out by cross-breeding. As a result, a ‘Marmo22go’ mushroom was developed with a thick white stem and larger mushroom size, and a greater resistance to high temperatures, as compared to the ‘Hokuto 18gokin’ mushroom. Subsequently, the stability, reproducibility and uniformity of the variety were verified, and cultivation was completed.